LG23-12: IT’s SO FLUFFY I’M GONNA DIE
- Brush: Trotter Handcrafts “Sea Glass No.3” 28mm SynBad
#FAUXFUR
- Razor: GEM Micromatic Gen 2 "Peerless" Clog Pruf
- Blade: GEM (20)
- Lather: WSP - Blackbeard - Rustic Shaving Soap
- Post Shave: RazoRock - Santa Maria del Fiore - Lozione Dopo-barba
- Fragrance: Day Three Fragrances - Ámbar Dominicano
- Passes: WTG, XTG
- Coffee: Hotel Carafe
- Music: Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys
- LG Tags:
#FOF
WSP’s soap bases are a great example of how dramatic the difference in performance can be between those that use a high percentage of coconut oil and those that don’t. I much prefer the Formula T, which leads with stearic acid, water, and tallow before getting to the coconut oil. That base lathers quickly and the performance competes in the big leagues when hydrated properly.
On the other hand, the six-ingredient vegan Rustic base—which I used for today’s Fluffy face lather—gets to the coconut oil by ingredient three and I find it to be noticeably more drying than the Formula T, not as slick, and lacking that protective bounce you get from many top-tier tallow bases. However, the Rustic base does respond well to loading heavy and softened water. Keep both in mind if you’re going to stick with old-school soaps. (By the way, I typically load from a bowl, and do most of the lathering there to protect a nagging shoulder injury. I face lathered to quicken up this busy-travel-day shave and fulfill today's challenge.)
This particular Rustic sample features WSP’s Blackbeard scent, so I ran with a Caribbean pirate theme for the whole shave. A vintage razor, sea glass brush, and buccaneer’s soundtrack further set the scene.
Blackbeard is sweeter and far more spice-forward than I expected from the scent notes. In particular, the cherry pipe smoke component isn’t the robust, smoky tobacco I hoped for; combined with vanilla, cloves, and patchouli, it smells almost sickly. I think the notes selection is sound, and it definitely achieves the pirate theme, but I’d balance it differently.
Fortunately, this Santa Maria del Fiore is what I wanted from Blackbeard: a giant dose of “Tuscan tobacco”, a trace of vanilla, and a warm amber base. Now I can picture a pirate captain smoking a giant cigar as they scrutinize the ledger. I also appreciate this scent’s simplicity. Aftershaves with a few notes are easier to pair than both their one-note and complex alternatives, acting as a focused segue to a complex fragrance.
And that’s how Santa Maria del Fiore brought me to Ámbar Dominicano, a dram to pair with a pirate’s smoke. This unique Day Three Fragrances extrait combines a potent amber with notes of Mamajuana, the deep red beverage that hails from the Dominican Republic. Made from rum, red wine, and honey, then combined with a blend of herbs, spices, and bark the Taíno originally used to make herbal tea, Mamajuana is both distinctly flavored and recognizable in the bottle. When first sprayed, Ámbar Dominicano reminds me immediately of Ellen Covey's sizzling amber base, but tuned up in pitch to a slightly different key. The perfumer’s notes tell me that’s from an opening of cola, lime, lavender, and passion fruit layered over the honeyed booze and amber, but I’d never have picked those out without the perfumer’s help. After the resins dry down, the fragrance’s namesake is considerably more obvious, like a thick, chocolaty splash of dark red wine textured by spiced davana and immortelle. Ámbar Dominicano is beautiful and comforting as it dries down—everything I love about an amber, but far more interesting than most.